Selecting a replacement tire for a light truck or SUV application sometimes places the customer between a rock and a hard place. It’s up to you to match the tire’s performance requirements with appearance.

The tire’s construction must be able to accommodate the vehicle’s weight and intended use. Blindly choosing a P-metric passenger car tire (even if the tire size meets the criteria) can be a bad idea, if the tire of choice isn’t designed to handle the dynamics of the customer’s vehicle.

According to The Tire Rack, three tire-sizing systems are used on OE tires that are fitted to today’s light trucks: euro-metric, P-metric and LT-metric. Many 1/4-ton and 1/2-ton vehicles use euro-metric and P-metric sized tires, while 3/4-ton and one-ton vehicles use LT-metric sizes.

Euro-metric and P-metric tire sizes were originally designed for cars and station wagons. However, they have also been used for light truck applications because most vans, pickup trucks and SUVs are intended to carry passengers instead of cargo. Additionally, most of the new light trucks being produced today are equipped with euro-metric or P-metric sized tires because they offer lighter weight, lower rolling resistance and less-aggressive tread designs for improved ride comfort, less noise and better fuel economy as opposed to typical heavy-duty tires.

However, The Tire Rack points out that we need to consider the fact that vans, pickup trucks and SUVs typically feature a higher center of gravity and greater likelihood of being overloaded than passenger cars. In order to accommodate this, vehicle engineers are required to specify euro-metric or P-metric sized tires that are rated to carry 10% more weight than would be required for a passenger car application. This is the equivalent of taking the tire’s load capacity and multiplying it by 91%.

For example, a euro-metric or P-metric tire designed to carry 2, 000 pounds on a car is restricted to carrying 1, 820 pounds when that same tire is used on a van, pickup truck or SUV. This size selection practice provides the vehicle manufacturer with the appropriate tire load capacity.

Source: www.moderntiredealer.com

Popular Q&A

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Yes, you can use LT (light truck) tires on rims for a Lexus if you want as long as the tires are the correct size for the rim. I can tell you that you probably won't be happy with their performance, but you can do it. LT tires have stiffer sidewalls and are built for a much heavier application. Your Lexus won't ride right and it may not handle as well as if you put the correct style of tires on the car.

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